subject: A CASE FOR TOPPING TREES [print this page] I read many articles about the downside of tree topping, and in a nutshell, the information tends to be accurate. I prune trees for a living and I find trees that have the witch's broom, lion-tailed, fanned out branches, as the tree fights to recover from major dissection, and this is a shame. It creates more work for future pruning and is deleterious to the health of the tree. That saidI believe it is tragic that a general consensus has formed that all tree topping is bad. The reality is that in some unique applications, (and I have much proof), topping will save a beautiful tree, and thus, its health will be improved.
Healthy trees have value. They produce oxygen and consume carbon dioxide. They provide shade and beautify property. While at a nursery on Long Island a few years ago a truck pulled in with a 48-foot redwood evergreen. I asked, "How much for the tree." The answer was:
$68,000 (and another $31,000 for installation). Again, trees are worth a lot, and unfortunately, many don't realize that in some circumstances, you can save a beautiful tree by cutting off its diseased top and limbs.
I live at 7000 feet and have been shown evergreen trees and Aspen in my area that were selectively topped decades ago. In every case, trees that had been dying from the top down, due to bugs, disease, or simply old age, are now alive and flourishing while trees that were not topped are completely dead. More on this, I've applied topping techniques for decades and found, especially at high altitudes, and with some trees in particular such as Aspen and Alpine Fir, if the tree starts dying from the top down, a proper topping will be akin to removing cancer from a human body, and you will save it by removing the top. In other cases, bugs might infect the top and start killing it from the top down. Again, removing the diseased wood will save the tree.
On a final note, I have many happy customers who will attest that the trees they allowed me to top survived and are healthy today, because they were topped. So, while many trees suffer greatly from tree topping, in some cases topping can save a valued, mature tree that is dying from the top down, and while it might not look perfect, it will produce and flourish for many years to come.
